Guide – How to use the Xbox One controller with your PC or Windows 8 tablet [Updated]

The Xbox One controller is one of the finest control pads ever designed. The same goes for the Titanfall Limited Edition Controller we just reviewed. But one flaw compared to Xbox 360 controllers is that Xbox One controllers don’t work on computers and tablets. Blame Microsoft, who have yet to release a PC driver even though it would take virtually no effort to do so.

Luckily, a hobbyist developer named Lucas Assis has developed a temporary Xbox One controller driver for Windows 7 and 8. It doesn't work on Windows RT, so this won't help regular Surface users. His solution requires the use of several companion programs (bundled with the driver) and a few quarts of elbow grease, but it does actually work. Until now, you’d have to endure a somewhat painful tutorial video in order to guide you through the process. Lucky for you guys, I’ve gone through that already so that we can bring you this easy-to-understand written guide!

Part One

First download the driver package from Lucas's OneDrive. This includes the driver, vJoy, X360CE, and LibUSB.

Part Two

Connect your Xbox One controller to the computer via micro-USB cable/

Head to Device Manager. On Windows 8, right-click the Start Menu, select Control panel, and Device Manager.

Xbox One controllers show up under Other devices as "Controller." They can't normally be installed because Microsoft still hasn't released drivers for them.

Select the Controller and click Update Driver.

Choose "Browse my computer for driver software"

Click "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"

Scroll down to Universal Serial Bus devices

Select WinUSB Device and answer yes to the Update Driver Warning.

Repeat this process for any additional Xbox One controllers you connect.

Part Three

Launch XboxOneDriverApp.exe (found in the App folder of the driver package).

For each detected controller, one Xbox symbol lights up in the app. If using more than eight controllers (!), check the “Additional gamepads” box.

Enable the “Trigger button” option for games that don’t otherwise support the analog triggers.

Part Four

Install vJoy. You can select not to install the Feeder component, but the Configuration component is required.

Launch the vJoy application file vJoyConf.exe.

Select the options in the screenshot above and click Apply.

If connecting more than one controller, repeat the settings and change the target device number for each controller.

Return to Control Panel and search for joy. Choose “Set up USB game controllers” from the search results.

Select the controller(s) from the Game Controllers list and verify that Windows detects your inputs.

If everything works, close the Game Controllers list and close vJoyConf.

Part Five

Install LibUSBDotNet. You can select not to install the Source and Example code. Make sure you select to install LibUSB with filter capabilities on the next screen.

Finish the installation and allow the first installer to launch the filter installer wizard.

Select “Install a device filter” and select the WinUSB device(s) from the top of the list. Choose Install and hit OK.

Close LibUSB.

Part Six (optional)

If you want the Xbox One controller to be detected as an Xbox 360 controller in games that support it (most modern controller-enhanced games), you also need to install X360CE and run it alongside XboxOneDriverApp.

Windows 8 users: Before launching the program, right click it and choose to run it in Windows 7 compatibility mode and “Run this program as an administrator.”

When first launching the app, it will ask if you want to create a DLL. Click Yes.

You can now test and configure the buttons for each controller.

Change the settings to those shown in the screenshot above.

Done!

If everything worked properly, your Xbox One controllers will now work on your PC or Windows 8 tablet! Launch a few games with controller support and enjoy the ergonomic comfort that only a well-designed controller can provide.

I tried using the libusb_device.inf, and that got it installed, but once I got to the vJoy step, it wasn't recognizing any of the keypresses on the controller. After uninstalling everything and starting over it seems like maybe I need to customize the libusb_device.inf file??? If that's the case could you please elaborate on how to do this properly for Win7 64-bit??

I would really like to get these Xbox One controllers working so I can play some Steam Big Picture games with my kids...

I think it was just the order. You have to run the App (Part 5) prior to doing parts 3 and 4, otherwise those steps won't work. That was the only thing holding me back...I was trying to use the Windows "Set up USB Controllers" step, and it wouldn't work!! After watching his video I realized all that was missing was I needed to run the App (Part 5). Everything was actually installed correctly the first time, but without the App running in the background, the Controller won't function at all.

It might be worth it to revise the article, as I'm sure there are plenty of other people trying to use this right now :-)

I was |---| that close to upgrading to Windows 8.1 to see if it'd work better that way LOL

By the way. I'm also using two Titanfall XBox One Controllers! They look awesome. My two boys, ages 4 1/2 and almost 7, are going to be so excited in the morning when they find out that the controllers are functioning and we can play some new games during Easter Break! :-)

Hey brother, I'm having issues getting the x360ce to work, i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong, i followed the steps to running it as an adminitrator and compatibility with win 7 but i'm getting an error message:

"Unhandled exception has occurred in your application... could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.DirectX.DirectInput,Version=1.0.2902.0, Culture=nuetral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

If you could help a soldier out it'd be much appreciated. I love that its worked with everything else, i'm just rying to get my XBOX One controller to work with Spartan Assault.

Thanks for your service, Joshua!
I've slept since writing the guide, so I can't really help you out, unfortunately. But I emailed the driver creator and asked him about the problem. We'll see if he responds.

Thanks Paul, just picked up a XBox One controller at MicroCenter today to play TitanFall on my PC...I wish that there was a more compelling reason to get an XBox One...I want to like it, but I feel they have taken more steps backward from the 360 than the ones they have taken forward.

There's no reason to do this. What is needed, and should come ASAP is native Windows 8.1 support. It's the same friggin' company after all. Also it should be backwards compatible with the 360 controller, of course.

One of the many reasons I bought Titanfall for the PC and NOT for my Xbox One was because I HATE controllers. The mouse + keyboard is significantly better. Plus the graphics on the PC make the Xbox One look sick.

Yeah, I personally think he's a tool and I've seen him acting a fool in the comments before, saying much, much worse. Just don't disagree with him too much, you could get banned.
What's really funny is that he is clearly still reading the comments, he has posted several times since I posted the link. He is purposely ignoring it, which I think makes him look really bad. Why not admit your mistake or even correct our mistake - if that is the case.

...
I often wonder why people would so confidently and boldly tell someone that they are wrong ... and then prove that THEY are the ones who are wrong. Why put yourself out there like that based on an assumption.

Its not a hardware hack? you dont have to hack anything hardware or software to get controller support under android amd other mobile OSs. tanglewoodDEV is completely right, you shouldnt shut people down like that when you have no clue what you are talking about.

That is so incorrect that its hard to keep from laughing at you, Android supports HID and controller devices natively, the cable does not trick anything, it is simply an OnTheGO (OTG) adapter. Fact is no hacking, mods, or tweaks nor any other stupid explination you come up with will negate the fact that Xinput and DirectInput devices are nativly supported by the Android OS and many games with no changes needed.

"You can not as there is no way to connect them.", Proven incorrect.

"That's a hardware hack, essentially.", Proven incorrect

"Android fools the controller into thinking its an Xbox/Windows machine.", proven incorrect

Comment was only a couple months old, i still qualify that as open for discussion, its not revivng a dead topic. And this is the first ive been here as I just landed here after a Google search a couple days ago and as a developer I really get easily pissed off when i see misinformation out there.

ok so I did everything and it worked just fine, but the net day when I plugged in my controler it didnt work. I tried the all the steps over accept step 2. I wanted to know do I have to disable winusb everytime i try to hook my controler and do the steps over?

I find just about everything about the Xbox One to be a bit disappointing. Around every corner it seems like the team that made this never owned a 360.
Fortunately, I think (hope) that its only because this was launched prematurely in order to keep up with Sony.